Hampton Court

We did nothing but lie around the house all day yesterday. It rained all day, so that helped make up our minds that we didn't want to even explore some places close by, but we really intended it to be a resting day anyway. We were all a little tired and needed time to just kick back. So, there is no blog from yesterday. The most exciting thing to happen yesterday was that Wednesday nights are bell practice night at the church right here. Remember - I told you that Pam and Roger's home is built on what used to be part of the church grounds. So when the church bells ring, we hear them. Pam & Roger didn't think anything of it - they're used to it. But Mom and I thought it was really fun. We went up to our room where we could open the windows, which are really up on the sloped part of the ceiling because our room is a room built in the attic, and we left our window open for the whole hour so we could hear them.

Today we drove to see Hampton Court Palace. It was where King Henry VIII lived, after taking it away from the guy who originally built it, of course, and where he lived with all his wives. One of his wives is even supposed to haunt one of the halls there, although she didn't come show herself for us. I was kind of disappointed. The place is so big it's hard to even describe it. There would be no way for me to get all of it in one picture from my camera, so I've got some bits and pieces of pictures. This is one of those places where my camera is not going to do it justice, so I rely on other people's pictures to help me remember it. The King and/or Queen hasn't used this palace to live in since the 1700s, it's mostly been used as a "grace and favour" residence, meaning there are areas of the palace where different people who have found favor with royalty or have done something great for them, have been given a place to live, and they are allowed to live there for life. The rest of it has been taken care of and restored so people can pay a lot of money and go in and see the tapestries and paintings and furniture and the fancy staircases. I think the room I liked the best was the armory, where they had hundreds and hundreds of weapons, pistols, muskets, swords, lances, knives, and many things I can't name, hanging way up high on the higher parts of the walls. And they weren't just hanging there - they had arranged them in intricate, fantastic designs on the walls, so that at first you didn't realize they were weapons. It was fascinating!

Then there are the gardens! I'd have to look it up to tell you how many of them there are, but there are several. And they're beautiful and well landscaped and taken care of. Some of my pictures were taken from the rooms we saw inside, so almost everywhere we went you had a beautiful view of one of the gardens. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the rooms, so most of my pictures are of outside things. I bought the souvenir booklet so I have pictures of the inside too, I just won't be able to put them here for you to see. It was fascinating to be looking at these intricate, detailed tapestries on the walls, that were sewn with silver and gold thread, that have been around since Henry VIII's time. And to walk in a place where so many people had walked so long ago! Henry VIII has never been one of my favorite guys to learn about, but it was fascinating to learn about him and the other kings and queens that came after him.

Mom is completely wiped out and tired now. By the time we figured out that we could not go on anymore to see another wing of the house or walk through the gardens, (we never did make it to see the maze) we both had headaches, our feet hurt, and my hips were hurting so that I was limping along. We had been planning to go to a garden near here after we did Hampton Court, but there was no way we could make it. Even stopping for lunch and sitting on benches as we walked hadn't really helped. We were worn out. I feel better tonight, but Mom's totally tired. I keep trying to convince her she doesn't have to go to London tomorrow, that I can go alone, but she wants to go and see stuff - she just doesn't want to walk through the Tower of London like I do. And, of course, we'll have to hit the tourist gift shops. I think we've done so much and seen so much in the last 3 weeks, and she's realized that she's about to go home, and she's starting to wind down early. I guess I could suggest we get a wheelchair for her, and watch her explode at me!

We've had a lot of fun figuring out the difference between English and American. Today when we were at the gardens Pam corrected my way of saying Dahlias. It's pronounced "Daylias". We had jelly for dessert after dinner tonight - Jello to us. I've learned that the trunk of the car is the boot, gas for the car is petrol, garage is pronounced "GAERidge" (emphasis on the first syllable), we had "rauzbries" on our yogurt last night, and for supper tonight we had jacket potatoes, not baked potatoes. It's a lot of fun to compare words and try to figure out how us Americans changed the words so much. I have to admit I like the way they say things - sounds better.

I guess that's all I have to write about today. Our sightseeing motors are running out of gas, but we're still having a great time. Pam and Roger have been amazingly good to us, and very patient, and Mom has had a great trip. If we can make it through London tomorrow without anybody falling apart, we'll be doing great. Tell you all about it tomorrow!